>> As I say, as far as I can tell, nobody was upset with him, they just
>> wanted to reduce the payroll bill...
> 
> There may well have been something going on that just wasn't apparent 
> from that far away.

This is also entirely possible.

> This could be a good thing for you. :-)

Well... my boss is now the Director of Finance. (The Director of IT used 
to report directly to him. Now the whole IT group reports directly to 
him.) He knows nothing about computers. (I've met him in meatspace. 
Trust me, he knows *nothing* about computers!) And he knows even less 
about how to operate a computer system in the minefield of government 
regulations. (But then, the Director of IT didn't really grok that fully 
either - much to my dismay.)

So it's probably going to be quite quiet around here for a while. I 
imagine now all the various IT people will crawl back into their 
seperate little holes and just do their own thing independently - like 
they did before we hired this guy...

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"Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message
news:4b67b828$1@news.povray.org...

> But I always have tried to make myself available; I can
think of one
> exception, but I was asked to leave that job (and was glad
to just get
> the hell out).-- Jim

I went back to one job (for free) and identified an error
made by a machine shop who mis-read my blueprints... and the
day after Christmas! I'm a sucker...

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On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:13:24 -0800, DungBeatle wrote:

> I went back to one job (for free) and identified an error made by a
> machine shop who mis-read my blueprints... and the day after Christmas!
> I'm a sucker...

But something like that does tend to come through in future references as 
well.  It shows that you have a sense of ownership for things you've 
done, and are willing to share information as needed.

Jim

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On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:34:34 +0000, Invisible wrote:

>>> As I say, as far as I can tell, nobody was upset with him, they just
>>> wanted to reduce the payroll bill...
>> 
>> There may well have been something going on that just wasn't apparent
>> from that far away.
> 
> This is also entirely possible.

I've seen some strange things happen that have gotten people fired, even 
people who were good at their jobs.  It happens.

>> This could be a good thing for you. :-)
> 
> Well... my boss is now the Director of Finance. (The Director of IT used
> to report directly to him. Now the whole IT group reports directly to
> him.) He knows nothing about computers. (I've met him in meatspace.
> Trust me, he knows *nothing* about computers!) And he knows even less
> about how to operate a computer system in the minefield of government
> regulations. (But then, the Director of IT didn't really grok that fully
> either - much to my dismay.)
> 
> So it's probably going to be quite quiet around here for a while. I
> imagine now all the various IT people will crawl back into their
> seperate little holes and just do their own thing independently - like
> they did before we hired this guy...

Quiet is good - maybe a good time to also arrange to introduce yourself 
to the finance director and outline what it is you've been having 
difficulty with.  Get on his good side early.  Don't bury him under 
technobabble - you understand him as an audience already, so leverage 
that in your conversations with him.

In particular, I'd focus on the regulatory compliance issues - that's 
something finance guys understand very well and could be a common ground 
for conversation between you and him.  I'm thinking about things like the 
system changes that go undocumented because the IT guys in the US don't 
consult you about those changes; your lack of access to some necessary 
systems, things like that.

Take it slowly, but make sure he knows who you are and what your 
responsibilities are with regards to these audits.  This could be a very 
good thing for you.

Jim

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Jim Henderson wrote:

> Quiet is good - maybe a good time to also arrange to introduce yourself 
> to the finance director and outline what it is you've been having 
> difficulty with.  Get on his good side early.  Don't bury him under 
> technobabble - you understand him as an audience already, so leverage 
> that in your conversations with him.
> 
> In particular, I'd focus on the regulatory compliance issues - that's 
> something finance guys understand very well and could be a common ground 
> for conversation between you and him.  I'm thinking about things like the 
> system changes that go undocumented because the IT guys in the US don't 
> consult you about those changes; your lack of access to some necessary 
> systems, things like that.
> 
> Take it slowly, but make sure he knows who you are and what your 
> responsibilities are with regards to these audits.  This could be a very 
> good thing for you.

You give some good advice - but I'm far more focused on getting out of 
this job and into a real one. Once I've left this company, its petty 
politics won't matter any more. (I'll have a whole new set of power 
battles to lose! Yay, me...)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:55:30 +0000, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

> You give some good advice - but I'm far more focused on getting out of
> this job and into a real one. Once I've left this company, its petty
> politics won't matter any more. (I'll have a whole new set of power
> battles to lose! Yay, me...)

It never hurts to do a little but of both - absolutely keep focus on 
getting out, but if you can part on good terms, then the new finance 
director can be a good reference for you down the road - and since his 
area involves government compliance and you have expertise in that area, 
having him as a reference in the future might be useful down the road.

The petty politics won't matter, but the reference could end up being 
worth its weight in gold. :-)

Jim

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> The petty politics won't matter, but the reference could end up being
> worth its weight in gold. :-)

How much does a reference weigh...? :)

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On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:52:59 -0300, Nicolas Alvarez wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> The petty politics won't matter, but the reference could end up being
>> worth its weight in gold. :-)
> 
> How much does a reference weigh...? :)

If it gets the job, as much as the salary increase that comes with the 
new job. :-)

Jim

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Invisible wrote:
> Oh... my god.
> 
> OK, so yesterday I was bouncing emails back and forth with my boss over 
> in America. This afternoon there was supposed to be another long boring 
> IT meeting over the phone. (But for once there's something actually 
> worth discussing.)
> 
> And five minutes ago, I got a phone call telling my that... my boss... 
> no longer works for this company. O_O

...and yesterday, a member of the IT team UNEXPECTEDLY DIED! O_O

First our Cisco specialist moves to a better job. Then our IT Director 
is summarily dismissed. And then SOMEBODY DIED. Who'll be next?!

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Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> Who'll be next?!

  Who do you think?

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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